The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that the number of different cases of cancer across the globe would soar to 24 million a year by 2035.

The urgent priority is to identify and tackle the causes of cancer, which are mainly linked to people’s lifestyle, WHO emphasized.

While fourteen million people a year are currently diagnosed with cancer, it is estimated the number will increase to 19 million by 2025, 22 million by 2030 and 24 million by 2035.

As there is an alarming level of naivety about diet’s role in cancer, half the estimated number of cases is preventable.

There is a real need to focus on cancer prevention by tackling some popular causes such as smoking, obesity, infections, drinking and Air pollution and other environmental factors, the UN experts say.

“The global cancer burden is increasing and quite markedly, due predominately to the ageing of the populations and population growth,” said the director of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer Chris Wild.

“If we look at the cost of treatment of cancers, it is spiraling out of control, even for the high-income countries. Prevention is absolutely critical and it’s been somewhat neglected,” Wild also stated.